Brunswick, Ga. – The College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team found out that Lee University is really better than it showed in the earlier meeting between the teams this season.
Back on Jan. 12, the Mariners lost 89-78 to the Flames on their home court. Lee was the seventh-ranked team in the country then.
But on Monday night, the score was much more lopsided as the second-ranked Flames overpowered the Mariners 83-51 at Howard Coffin Gym in the second Southern States Athletic Conference matchup of the East Division foes.
Longtime Coastal Georgia coach Gerald Cox was impressed by Lee's performance. "They could beat a lot of (NCAA) Division II teams."
Lee is actually making the jump to the D-II ranks next year. Based on Monday's game, the Flames are ready to take the leap.
They handed Coastal Georgia its third-worst loss of the season. The Mariners lost by 39 to Augusta State and 37 to Valdosta State – both D-II programs – earlier this season.
Monday's win was the ninth in a row for Lee (22-1 overall, 11-1 SSAC), which opened the season with 13 straight wins before losing to William Carey, which is also nationally ranked.
The Mariners (6-19, 4-10) were coming off an 85-63 victory on Saturday over Truett-McConnell on Homecoming. That win allowed the Mariners to remain in fourth place in the division as they try to stay in the top five and earn a berth in the postseason conference tournament.
The loss to Lee actually didn't hurt the Mariners in the division standings as Southern Poly fell to Brewton-Parker, allowing the Mariners to keep a game lead over the Hornets in the league race. Southern Poly, Brewton-Parker and Truett-McConnell all have 11 league losses. Coastal Georgia still has games left against Brewton-Parker and Southern Poly before the regular-season ends later this month.
Lee led the Mariners from start to finish. The Flames built a double-digit cushion in the game's first 10 minutes and would go up by as much as 16 late in the first half before going into halftime ahead 33-20.
The Flames led by double figures throughout the final 20 minutes, steadily extending their lead throughout the second half.
Will Barnes, the second-leading scorer in the conference behind Anthony Dorsey of Truett-McConnell who leads the nation in scoring, led all scorers in Monday's game with 23 points. Chase Dunn followed with 19 for Lee.
The Flames shot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field and shot 45 percent (11-for-24) from three-point land. Ironically, the Lee women also were 11-for-24 in their 74-61 win over Coastal Georgia.
For the Mariners, Reggie Burke led the way in defeat with 15 points. P.J. Reason also finished in twin figures with 14 points.
Coastal Georgia will go on the road Saturday to face Southern Wesleyan. The Mariners defeated the Warriors 104-98 in double-overtime last month in Brunswick when they erased a 21-point deficit in the final 10 minutes of regulation.
